Demonstrating index device



May 5, 1925. 1,536,119

D. MCDONALD DEMONSTRATING INDEX DEVICE Filed June 14, 1923 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VENTOR M z M- 4; ATTORNEY May 5, 1925.

D. MCDONALD nsuouswnmne mnmx DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 14, 1923 Til .7.-

A TTORNE Y IN VEN TOR Patented May 5,

UNITED STATES 1,536,119 PATENT orFicEQ noNALn McDONALD, OF NEW "roan, n. Y., assreivon r AMERICAN METER cor/trans, nvcoaroaarnn, or NEWYORK, 1v. Y., a conroaarroiv or DELAWARE.

DEIMONSTRATING INDEX DEVICE.

Application filed June 14, 1923. Serial No. 645,243. r

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD MCDONALD, a citlzen of the United States, and a resi' dent of the borough of Manhattan, city,

county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Demonstrating Index Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention. relates to an improvement in demonstrating index; devices. Public service enterprises have frequently experienced considerable difficulty in the handling of their accounts because of the fact that the ordinary user of their service, whether it be water, gas, or electricity, does not learn how to read the meter correctly. One object of the present invention is to provide a device which may be placed in aconvenient position in the o-flice of a public utility corporation, for example, so that patrons of the corporation may be instructed in the correct method of reading the companys metering devices by reference,

to this improved demonstrating index device. i 7

One embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the drawings accompanying the present specification, and in which Figure 1 is a front elevation, Figure l 2, a central transverse vertical section, v

Figure 3, a View of a portion of the dial mechanism, together with the frame for supporting the gear trains,

Figure 4, an end View. of said mechanism, Figures, a view of the gear trains and dial mechanism with. the top plate removed, Figure 6,. a-section onthe line 6 3 of liigure 5, and i a Figure 7,. a section on the line 7-7 of Figure 5. i

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the draw ings, a preferred form of my invention will) include a portable casing 1 provided with. an opening in its front wall throughwhich is visible a face plate 2, protected bya glass 3. An. opening in the rear wall of the casingl is provided with a removable cover The face plate 2 carries a plurality of groups of markings representing units of different values. Thus, the markings included Within the circular marking 5 .which may be referred to as group 5, represent hundreds While those in the circularmarkings 6 and 7 represent thousands and ten thousands, respectively. Obviously, the identity of the unit of measurement, the reading of which it is desired to demonstrate, may vary to suit the typeof service supplied. Adjacent to each group is. an opening 8, 9 and .10, respectively, in the face plate 2. Behind said face plate2 and Within the casing 1 is a" frame havingfron't and rear plates 11 and 12, respectively, be tween which is supported a train of gears for convenience here identified collectively at A (Figure 5), the construction and Open ation of said train being old and well known to those skilled in the art. This trainin eludes three shafts 18, 14 and 15, rcspec-i tively, which extend through the front plate. .11 and the face plate 2 and carry ontheir exposed ends the indicators or markers 16, 17 and 18, respectively. The markings 5; 6, and 7, the gear train A and the pointers 16, 17, and 18, provide in eii'ect a simulation of the ordinary measurement indicating devices of a typical gas meter. The gear, train is manually actuated through gears driven from a shaft 19 having a pin 20 cooperating with a slot 21 in the hollow shank of a thumb piece 22. Thus, by turn ing said thumb piece, the gear train A operates in characteristic manner to impartcontinuous movement of rotation to the point. ers at speeds proportioned to therelative sizes of the different units represented by the markings of the several groups. This operation reproduces for demonstration the action of the pointers on the dial of a com.- mon form of gas meter, for example, except that the pointers 23 and 2% indicating readings ofless than 100 cubic feet maybe dummies inthe sense that they are not driven by the gear train.

As'sho\vnmore clearly in Figures to 7 inclusive, a. plurality of shafts 25, 26, and 27' are journaled in the front and rear plates 11 and 12 with their forward ends extending through the. front plate 11 andcarrying a dial 28, 29, andl-EO, Figure 3, hearing the numerical markings O to 9, which form a group corresponding to the adjacent group of markings on the face plate hereinabove referred to, said dial markings being openings 8, 9, and 10, respectively, as indicated in Figure 1, when the dials are rotated.

Intermittent rotation of the dials 29 and 30 is effected by any suitable Geneva or stop movement. As shown more clearly in Figure 5, a pinion 31 and a gear disc 32 having a single tooth 33 are secured to the shaft 25. A gear 34 mounted on a stud 35 meshes with a gear 36 in the gear train A and also meshes with the pinion 81, thus imparting continuous rotation to the shaft 25, the disc 32, and the dial 28. The tooth 33 of the disc 32 successively engages notches 37 in the star wheel 38 mounted in shaft 26 which also carries a disc 39 having a tooth 10 successively engaging the notches 4:1 in a star wheel 42 mounted on the shaft 27. Obviously, where the parts are geared as indicated, for each complete rotation of shaft 25, shaft 26 is rotated through 36 and similarly with respect to shaft 27. The numerical markings on the dials 29 and 30 are positioned so that they will stop periodically opposite the openings 9 and 10, respectively, as said dials are rotated intermittently by the mechanism thus far de scribed. lVhen the parts are properly synchronized the reading of the numerical markings disclosed at said openings will correspond to the total number of units through which the pointers 16, 17, and 18 shall have advanced. This will, of course, be indicated by reference to the group markings 5, 6, and 7 which the dial markings are intended to interpret.

It is contemplated that in use it will be desirable to conceal the interpretation of the group marking reading until the person who is being instructed shall have made an attempted reading. This reading can then be Verified by disclosing the dial reading. To this end, shutters 43, 4 1, and 45 are mo-vably mounted between the openings 8, 9, and 10, respectively, and the dials positioned behind them, on a bar 46 supported by blocks 47, Figure 4, and 48, which slide in slots 49 and 50 cut in the opposed side edges of the plate 11., said blocks being provided with top and bottom grooves to engage the upper and lower edges, respectively, of said slots. A rod is provided at each end of the bar 46 forming in effect an extension thereof and having the terminal thumb pieces 51 and 52, respectively, exposed outside the casing 1 so that the bar 46 may be moved endwise to position the shutters in inoperative or operative position as desired.

Although one field of utility and one mode of operation of my improved device has been indicated in connection with the foregoing description, it is contemplated that the device is capable of being used for other purposes and with the parts operating in different sequences from those hereinabove set forth.

I claim as my invention:

1. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having a series of groups of unit markings, each group having a different unit value, a pointer for each group, a train of driving gears cooperating with said pointers, and means cooperating with said train to expose a number marking corresponding to the number of units indicated by the pointer in each group.

2. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having a series of groups of unit markings, each group having a different unit value, a marking adjacent to each group to indicate its unit value, a pointer for each group, a train of driving gears cooperating with said pointers, and means cooperating with said train to expose a number marking corresponding to the number of units indicated by the pointer in each group.

3. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having a series of unit markings, each group having a different unit value, a pointer for each group, a train of driving gears cooperating with said pointers, and means cooperating with said train to expose a number marking corresponding to the number of units indicated by the pointer in each group, said means comprising a movable member for each group carrying a plurality of numeral markings, means for normally concealing said markings and manually operative means for moving a portion of the concealing means to expose a marked portion of each of said movable members.

4. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having markings in facsimile of the markings on a meter for gas, water, electricity, or the like, pointers operatively mounted with respect to said markings, a train of gears for driving said pointers, and manually operated means for actuating said train of gears.

5. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having markings in facsimile of the markings on a meter for gas, water, electricity, or the like, pointers operat-ively mounted with respect to said markings, a train of gears for driving said pointers. means for actuating the train of gears, and means cooperating with said train for exposing a numerical marking adjacent. to each of said pointers and corresponding to the readings of the pointers with respect to the facsimile markings.

6. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having markings in facsimile of the markings on a meter for gas, water, electricity, or the like, pointers operatively mounted with respect to said markings. openings in said face plate adjacent to said markings, movable members behind the face plate and carrying numeral markings arranged to be exposed through said openings, and a train of gears for operating the pointers and the movable members simultaneo-usly.

7. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having markings in facsimile of the markings on a meter for gas, water, electricity, or the like, pointers operatively mounted with respect to said markings, openings in said face plate adjacent to said markings, movable members behind the face plate and carrying numeral markings arranged to be exposed through said openings, a shutter for each opening, a train of gears for operating the pointers and the movable members simultaneously, and manually operated means for moving the shutters toward and away from said openings.

8. A demonstrating index device comprising a face plate having a plurality of groups of markings, rotatable pointers operatively positioned with respect thereto, a plurality of discs each having numerical markings arranged to: be moved past an opening in the faceplate and means for simultaneously actuating said discs and said rotatable pointers whereby the numerical markings exposed through said openings will correspond with and indicate the reading of the pointers with respect to the aforesaid plurality of groups of markings.

9. A portable demonstrating indexdcvice comprising a casing, a face plate arranged therein and having a plurality of spaced openings, a group of markings arranged on the face plate adjacent to each opening, a rotatable pointer centrally arranged With respect to each group of markings and mounted on a shaft passing through the face plate, a plurality of dials mounted behind the face plate, and having a plurality of numeri cal markings arranged to move in paths opposite said openings, and means for actuating said rotatable pointers and said dials simultaneously.

10. A portable demonstrating index device comprising a casing, a face plate arranged therein and having a plurality of spaced openings, a group of markings arranged on the face plate adjacent to each opening, a rotatable pointer centrally arranged with respect to each group of markings and mount ed on a shaft passing through the face plate, a plurality of dials mounted behind the face plate and having a plurality of numerical markings arranged to move in paths opposite said openings, means for closing said openings in the face plate, means for moving said closing means to inoperative position, and means for actuating the rotatable pointers and the dials simultaneously.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 13th day-of June, 1923.

DONALD MCDONALD. 

